Living A Natural Illusion
by minimonster12345
Summary: From now on, no more trust. If there was one thing that she's learned from family, it's that it can only be used to hurt you. No more family, no more friends, and definitely no more trust. She was brought into the world by a traitor, she wouldn't give them the right to take her out of it.
1. Chapter 1

**Hiiiiii guys! Okay, so I know I haven't been frequently updating but I'm behind in school and I've been trying to catch up. This story is about my OC Lani. I hope you like her, but if you have problems with her, tell me so I can improve her :) This might be a little short because it's just the prologue and I'm working on the next few chapters. **

Sure, maybe Lani was raised with nice things surrounding her, maybe she always had money when she wanted or needed it, and had nice clothes (which were barely ever worn by her. She preferred to wear the same clothes over and over again), and maybe she was a privileged brat who was never grateful for the things she had.

But being a homeless thirteen year old was actually pretty refreshing.

I know, it sounds weird.

Don't get me wrong, it also sucked majorly. She hadn't eaten in two days. Her stomach felt as if it was gnawing at itself, and she was _this close _to eating leaves off of trees.

She missed her old bed, the one she had been complaining about just a few weeks ago, saying it was too babyish for her. It was funny how people didn't realize how emotionally attached to things they were until it was taken away.

But on the other side, there was no more yelling. No more feeling like she didn't deserve to be there or that she was just an extra problem that people had to deal with.

Now before you start jumping to conclusions, Lani was NOT one of those angsty teens that run away because they think they're being disrespected by their parents or feel they don't have enough freedom.

No, she had had more than enough freedom. In fact, her stepdad didn't think she had enough freedom as she needed, so he gave her the ultimate privilege that a parent can give a growing child.

He kicked her out.

Yep, her stepdad somehow managed to convince her mom that she was a danger to her stepbrother Dean.

Now, during the entire situation, she kept thinking to herself that her mom wouldn't let her stepdad do anything rash.

There had been a monster attack. She used her 'powers' to stop it. The stupid giant stalker dog had almost left a scratch on poor Deanie. How horrible. Of course, they didn't care about the giant gashes it had left on her.

Still, her mom was the only person she could at least slightly trust. She could remember when she used to stay up all night crying and talking to her mom. She recalled how her mom used to tell her that her paranoia came from her dad. It was one of the few things she told Lani about her dad.

Anyway, the morning after the incident, she woke up assuming that she'd get scolded, then go to school and stay out until she knew her mom and Dean were in bed and her stepdad would talk to her like she's a piece of trash, maybe push her against a wall or shove her, then she'd make her way to bed and the process would be repeated for the next month or so. You know, the same old same old.

Much to her surprise, however, she was greeted by a packed backpack and a smug stepdad.

His exact words, you ask? "Get the hell outta here. We're done with your crap."

All whilst her mom just stood there and let it happen. Just like always.

Now that she was a couple days into her homeless journey, she could think of a lot of things to say to her 'parents'. She would call her mom a coward. What kind of caring mother would let her no good husband kick her thirteen year old daughter out?

She would've raged and yelled before storming out, but all she could do was tear up and look confused before the bag was stuffed into her arms and she was pushed outside and locked out.

She had cried in front of the people who hurt her. She had given them that satisfaction. They had sent her out with old clothes, no food, and monsters attacking her left and right. They wanted her to die.

From now on, no more trust. If there was one thing that she's learned from family, it's that it can only be used to hurt you.

No more family, no more friends, and definitely no more trust.

She was brought into the world by a traitor, she wouldn't give them the right to take her out of it.


	2. Chapter 2

**HIIIII guys! Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I really appreciate it:) **

Lani had decided to make being homeless seem as fun as all the movies did. It always seemed like the runaway kids were having so much fun, away from the control of their parents and teachers.

Speaking of teachers, she wondered what her parents had told hers. Maybe she told them that she was transferring schools, or maybe they made up some lie about her getting hit by a bus and dying. Oh well, It's not like she would ever know.

She was walking around Prospect Park. Oh,sorry, correction: She was _living _in Prospect Park.

She liked the trees. They could easily be climbed and she was getting pretty damn good at making tree hammocks.

Dragging her bag behind her, she trudged in between trees. Her expression could easily scare away small children. So far the whole 'homeless chic' thing wasn't going exactly as planned.

She looked (and felt) like complete and utter crap. Her hair was a jumbled mess that slouched around her shoulders. This had happened due to the fact that she refused to ever put her hair up, yet she was sleeping in trees. Her hair always got stuck in branches. Not fun.

Her eyes were droopy and had formed bags under them from a lack of sleep. Since she didn't have anyone with her to change guard shift with, she had to take short, usually five minute catnaps every thirty minutes or so, which wasn't exactly a goodnight's sleep. This also meant that she had to set up her blanket hammock higher up in the trees so that people didn't see her sleeping in trees during the day. This was not only dangerous because she could fall out while she was sleeping, but it also took a lot more effort to set up the hammock.

Lani was also pretty sure that she smelled awful. Not showering for a week did that to you. Luckily, she had convinced a little boy to give her his picnic basket in exchange for a 'brand new toy'. The toy was really just an empty remote control car box that she had found in a garbage can and filled with rocks then had given to the boy.

Don't ask why she was looking through a garbage can.

But she actually felt really bad about it afterward. The little boy was given the job of carrying the picnic basket full of food to their picnic site while his parents unpacked everything else from the car, at least that's what he told her. She imagined how distraught he must've been when he opened the box and realized that the nice girl that he talked to had tricked him.

She'd stolen from a little kid. What kind of person was she?

Well, it's best not to dwell on the past, especially if it makes you guilty.

Grabbing a branch, she tried to pull herself up, then realized that it would be insanely difficult to climb to the top of a tree with an overstuffed backpack slung across her shoulder and a picnic basket in her hand.

Sighing, she pulled her hand away from the branch. She had two options, sit and eat on the ground or do the _thing. _If she ate on the ground, there was the chance of getting attacked by an animal. On the other hand, doing the thing would draw a lot of attention to her, and would freak people out.

Okay, ground it is.

She opened the backpack and pulled out the sheet that that she had been using as a hammock and laid it out on the ground, sitting down on it.

Her mouth watered as she opened the picnic basket. There were three, sandwiches, a bag of chips, potato salad, and some cut up fruit.

"Oh my holy mother of all things delicious."

She almost passed out at the sight. Or maybe it was the exhaustion. Ah, who cares anyway?

Reaching into the basket, she pulled out the bag of chips and opened it, the scent wafting towards her. She grabbed a handful of chips and stuffed them in her mouth.

"I've never appreciated unhealthy food more than I do right now."

After eating about half of the chips, she decided to save the rest of the food for later. Hopefully it doesn't spoil too fast.

She glanced at her watch, which she had luckily been wearing the morning she was kicked out. It had been thirty-four minutes since she last slept.

Well that's just effing wonderful. If she didn't want to climb up the tree, and she didn't want to get up there the _other _way, she would have to sleep on the ground, where any animal (or human for that matter) could take her food.

"Isn't my life just great?"

She tried to think of any other options she had. She could always hide the food, but that wouldn't stop any animals from eating it.

"No sleep then. At least until I find something to do with this food. Other than eating it." She says to nobody in particular.

So she gets up and the keeps trudging alone

**~~~~~Time skip~~~~~**

Unfortunately, Lani's body had become used to sleeping every half hour, and that made it really hard to stay awake.

She glanced at her watch. Her slumber was about twenty minutes overdue.

"This sucks majorly." She complained, almost dropping the basket as she tripped over her own feet.

A twig snapped behind her and she jumped, turning around quickly. Nothing was there. She started to panic but she tried to shake it off.

"It was nothing. Just your imagination." She told herself.

Another twig snapped, followed by the ruffling of bushes. Lani's heart started to beat faster, and her hands shook as she gripped the basket handle tightly.

"Oh god, not this again. Anything but this." She said shakily.

She was hoping to have her crap together by the next time on of those stupid things attacked her.

Even worse, she was terrified. She was supposed to keep herself out of stressful or scary situations.

What was she supposed to do? Count to ten? She couldn't think. Breathe in a paper bag? Where the hell was she supposed to find a paper bag?

Heart palpations? Check. Sweating and shaking? Check. Dizziness? Check. Not being able to breathe? Check.

Her mind raced as the sounds got closer.

Great, she was about to be killed and she was having another panic attack.


	3. Chapter 3

**HHHIIIIII guys! I'm so glad you all like my story :3 I didn't expect you all to like it as much as you do, so thank you all! **

Lani could remember the last time she had a panic attack. Not that it was hard, she had them a lot, but the last one was probably the worst.

_It was right after she was kicked out. She was standing in the hallway of the apartment building she had previously lived in. _

_She was in shock, and she had started to shake. She realized what was happening, and she was immediately filled with even more anxiety. One of the main causes of the panic attacks was just the fear of having another panic attack. It was a vicious cycle. _

_She dropped to her knees and started rummaging through her bag, her entire body shaking and her heart racing. She couldn't breathe. She was dying. She needed to call 911._

_Her mom couldn't have been as heartless as to not pack her meds. Or even a paper bag for her to breathe in. Then again, the last time she underestimated her mom, well, that was the reason she was in this situation. _

_They could probably hear her gasping for air through the door. They were probably laughing at her as panic quickly consumed her. _

_She just laid there and shook on the floor. _

And now it was happening again. No medication, nothing to calm her down. She couldn't defend herself if she was like this.

She fought against her urge to curl up and let herself stop breathing. She knew she had to take deep breaths, but there wasn't enough air. She couldn't think or speak or move.

She choked and wretched and gagged she couldn't find oxygen to fill her lungs.

What if she was having a heart attack? What if the air was being sucked out of her lungs by whatever creature was approaching her? She needed to get away, and fast.

She turned and got ready to run, but wooziness took over her body and she collapsed, everything going black.

**~~~Time Skip~~~**

When Lani's eyes opened everything was spinning. She blinked a few times as she felt something touch her cheek.

Her eyes widened and she slightly panicked for a few moments before she sat up and saw… a dog?

What the hell was a dog doing here?

The memories flooded back into her head, and she glanced around urgently, trying to detect any sign of an attacker, but there were none.

She glances back at the dog. It's a big dog. Her cousin had a dog that looked like this… what was it called?

Bernese mountain dog. Yeah, that's it. The dog nudged her hand, so she patted it's head.

"Were you the one that scared the crap out of me?"

Thankfully, the dog didn't reply. Talking dogs wasn't something that Lani wanted to deal with.

She ran her hand down the dog's neck, looking for a tag or collar or any sign that the dog had an owner, but she couldn't find any.

"Well, I guess you're homeless like me. Do you have a name?"

Wait a second, she was talking to a dog.

"I'll name you Bunny. You're cute enough to be named Bunny. Plus it's ironic and I like irony."

Bunny nudges her hand again and Lani happily pats her head one more time and then stands up.

"Well, if you're coming with me, you better get ready to be hungry and walk a lot."

She took the silence as an agreement, because as soon as she started walking, Bunny followed.

**Sorry for this chap being incredibly short :/ You all are so awesome and amazing and I'll try to get a longer chapter up soon :) **


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